The First Person You Must Lead

Every person is a leader. Or so I believe.

We are all called to lead at least one person. That person?

Ourself

lead yourself first

The First Person You Lead

 

You may hear varying reports on how you become a leader. One thing is certain: The first person you lead must be yourself.

It’s hard to lead others when you’re not leading yourself.

This may sound odd, but it’s true.

We have no actual control over others. We do have control of ourselves.

We tell our bodies what to do. We tell our mouths what to speak. We tell ourselves when to go to the bathroom. We tell ourselves what to eat (or not eat).

We are the only ones that can control these aspects of our lives.

How well we do these things impacts how well we can lead others.

Why A Leader Must Lead Himself First

Culture tells us that one does not need to lead himself before he can lead others.

Lead yourself to lead others

Image by Zach Dischner

There’s a lot of reasons behind this belief. People believe leaders don’t have to lead themselves because:

People can be better at getting others to do things they don’t want to do

As long as others are being moved forward, it doesn’t matter where the leader stands

Leading others doesn’t require you to lead yourself

Listening to these excuses you can see how thin and flimsy they are. These excuses for bad leadership skills are people grasping for reasons why they don’t lead well.

Why You Must Lead Yourself First

You are the example: People look for leaders who are leading themselves well first. No one wants to follow someone who has their life in shambles.